


Captain Christmas and the Real McCoy

by Corrie71



Series: Moonverse [2]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bones is long suffering and a saint, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Christmas With Family, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Good Old Fashioned Family Christmas, Jim and Bones as the parents of teenagers, Jim channels Clark Griswold, Jim's having a mid-life crisis, M/M, Parenthood, The Christmas Vacation/Star Trek AOS Mash-up you never knew you wanted., post Narada, post STID
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 06:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2642306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corrie71/pseuds/Corrie71
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set 16 years after <i> Fly Me to the Moon,</i> Jim wants to have a "good old-fashioned family Christmas" with Bones, David, and Joanna...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cover

**Author's Note:**

> So, back when I finished _Fly Me to the Moon_ at Easter, I promised you all some “Moonverse” drabbles. And I’ve tried to write them several times. However, they are a happy family in the Moonverse so there hasn’t been a lot of conflict and, since conflict is required for a story, I haven’t ever gotten around to re-visiting the Moonverse.
> 
> Last year, I did my Advent calendar at Christmas and wanted to do something special for the holidays this year too. But I knew I couldn’t commit to another 25 days of prompts. After writing _Dark Side of the Moon,_ I wanted to write some happy Christmas fluff. 
> 
> As I was pondering it and chatting about it with my beloved beta WeWillSpockYou, I happened to watch some clips of the Chevy Chase movie, _Christmas Vacation_. And, for some reason, Chevy as Clark Griswold reminded me of our Jim. So, here we are... 
> 
> The plot of this story is only loosely based on the movie but I did use some of the lines of dialogue throughout the story. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and it makes your holiday season a bit more merry. Please let me know what you think in the comments!
> 
> This story is now complete!

[](http://postimage.org/)   
[](http://postimage.org/)


	2. Christmas Tree

On the second Saturday in December 2280, Bones let his husband sleep late, thus earning a peaceful morning with his teenage son and daughter. He flipped pancakes for them, discussing the latest medical research with his sixteen year old son, David, and debating the importance of Eomer in the Lord of the Rings with his thirteen year old daughter, JoJo. 

At mid-morning, Hurricane Jim bounced down the stairs, already dressed in ancient jeans, work boots, and a red plaid flannel shirt. Even after all these years together, Jim was so handsome, he still made Bones’ heart flutter when he saw him. Not that he’d ever _tell_ him that. The man’s ego was big enough already.

Jim charged into the kitchen, taking a swig from Bones’ cold coffee and grabbing a half-eaten pancake off David’s plate. The kids had long since migrated to the den to challenge each other in Mortal Kombat 7000. From the shouts, it sounded like JoJo was winning—again. “You all let me sleep late!”

“Consider it an early Christmas gift, darlin.” Bones answered. “Where are you going all dressed like that?”

“To get our Christmas tree.”

“Our Christmas tree is in the storage shed and it’s 62 degrees outside. You’re dressed awful warm. I can think of more pleasant ways to work up a sweat.” 

“Maybe later. And not that Christmas tree.” Bones brushed a kiss over his husband’s mouth, tasting coffee and maple syrup, and Jim grinned at him, his beautiful electric blue eyes bright and mischievous. “Kids, get ready. Dress warm. We’re going to get our tree.”

From the den, JoJo and David glanced at Bones who shrugged. No, as usual, he had no idea what his husband might have planned. He’d long since learned to just go with it rather than waste the breath to argue. As Jim ate, Bones tidied the kitchen. He finished the dishes and dried his hands on a towel. Jim snatched it out of his hand. “Go get dressed.”

“Where are we going?” 

“You’ll see.” Bones sighed and, after dressing, met the family downstairs. Jim herded them all into their hover-van, required for hauling all the kids sports gear to their various and perpetual events.

“Buckle up!” Jim said cheerfully before punching the lift-off option and dialing up some obscenely cheerful Christmas music to blast through the car. Bones turned it down. “Come on, kids, sing along. Bones, make them take their headphones out.” 

“Jim, what are you up to this morning?”

“Nothing! I just want to have a good, old fashioned family Christmas.” 

“Why? What’s the matter with our regular Christmas?”

Jim glanced out the window, his plush lips compressing to a thin line. “Our son turns 17 this month. Next year, he’ll start at the Academy…”

“So you want to make his last Christmas with us…”

“Special.” 

“That wasn’t what I was going to say.” Bones laughed. “You do realize that he may not go to the Academy…”

“He’ll get in.” Jim waved his hand. Even if his father wasn’t head of Starfleet Academy, David could get in. His aptitude tests were off the charts—even higher than Jim’s had been at that age. 

“That won’t be a problem. But, he may not want…” 

“He’ll want to. He’s a Kirk-McCoy.”

“That may be why he wouldn’t want to. You never liked living up to your name much. He could go to college elsewhere.” 

Jim bit his lip. “We’ll see. And whether he goes to the Academy or somewhere else…he’s still going.”

Bones glanced at his husband but Jim kept his gaze trained out the windshield. “Okay, Jim. We’ll do the big celebration. God help me.”

* * *

Bones dozed off somewhere over Wyoming only to awake with a start when Jim landed. He blinked out the window at a winter wonderland. Untouched snow sparkled in all directions, covering the land and the trees with a blanket of fluffy white. In front of them, a farmhouse with peeling gray-white paint, sat, nestled in a small clearing. Even the pristine snow didn’t quite manage to conceal the dilapidation and air of general neglect.

“Where are we?” JoJo demanded from the backseat.

“Iowa. Nearest town is 12 miles. Riverside.” David answered, without looking up from his PADD.

“We’re in Riverside?” Bones asked, looking at his husband in shock. 

“Yep. That’s my grandpa’s farmhouse.”

“This is where you grew up, Papa?” JoJo leaned over the seat to stare out the front windshield. 

“Yes. And I met your daddy just a few miles from here.”

“When were you last here?” David asked, hanging over the seat next to his sister. Bones enjoyed the expressions of wonder on the kids faces as they gazed at the sparkling snowscape. It reminded him of Christmases when they were younger and still believed in the magic of Santa. 

“Twenty-five years ago, the day I left. I was twenty-two years old, beat-up from a bar fight the night before, and gave away my only possession—a sweet hover-cycle. Then, I got on the shuttle to San Francisco and your daddy sat down next to me.” Jim answered with a laugh. Bones stared at Jim, wondering what prompted this trip down Memory Lane. They’d taken the children to see his family, in Atlanta, where Bones had grown up, several times but Jim always flat refused to come back to Riverside. Until today. 

“You were only 22 when you left?” Jim nodded at JoJo’s question. “Wow. You’ve been with Daddy longer than you lived here.”

“I guess that’s true.” Jim answered. Then, they heard the door slam. Jim turned back to the house, his brow furrowing, when a gunshot echoed through the clearing. Bones pressed both kids down into the backseat, leaning over it to shield them, while Jim jumped from the car.

“Stop! Don’t shoot!”

“Jimmy?”

“Mom?”

“Daddy, did Grandma Winona just try to shoot us?” JoJo asked, from the floor.

“Welcome to Iowa, baby girl.” 

They climbed from the car, into the knee high snow, Bones still shaky from the adrenaline rush of being greeted with a shotgun. Winona stood on the porch, dressed in worn jeans and a worn flannel shirt, her blonde hair fading to gray around the temples. She waved at them. “Sorry I dented your bumper, Leonard.”

“Mom, what are you doing here? Why aren’t you…” Jim waved his hand above his head ineffectually to indicate the sky.

“Shore leave.” She shrugged.

“Why didn’t you come to see us?”

“Didn’t want a big fuss.” 

“So, you’re staying here? Mom…the farmhouse…”

“It’s falling down around my ears, James. But…It’s home.” She shrugged. “Or as close to home as I can get on land.”

“Come to San Francisco for Christmas.” Bones’ jaw dropped at Jim’s invitation but he hastily re-arranged his expression.

“We’d love to have you Miz Winona.” Bones said, cordially, hoping Winona hadn’t heard the kid’s shocked gasps.

“What are you all doing here anyway?” Winona asked. Well, looked like he knew where Jim picked up that conversational gambit from. Deflection ran in the family.

“Came to get a tree.”

“Well, we’ve plenty of those around.” Winona patted his shoulder. “Why don’t you all go find a pretty one and I’ll make some coffee and hot chocolate for when you get back?”

“Okay. You want a tree, Mom?”

“What would I do with a tree, Jim?” She shook her head, heading back into the house. Jim turned to his family, a broad smile creasing his handsome face. 

“Let’s go pick a tree!” 

“What’s the matter with our fake tree?” JoJo asked. 

“Nothing to my knowledge.” Bones answered.

“It has the lights already on it and everything.” David put in.

“I’m aware of that.” Bones said. 

“This year, the Kirk-McCoy household is getting a real tree.” Jim said, grabbing a bag out of the trunk and tossing it over his shoulder. From the clanking noise, Bones assumed it was tools to cut down an evergreen. Jim turned and trudged through the knee high snow toward the tree line. Bones sighed and, just like he’d done for the last twenty-five years, followed him. 

“Jim, my toes are numb. The kids are freezing. Pick a damn tree and let’s go.” Bones said, after twenty minutes of wandering around looking at identically shaped evergreens. 

“Finding the right tree takes time. You have to feel it. We’ll find it.”

“Pick one.” Bones demanded. “My jeans are soaked.”

“That one.” Jim pointed to a round tree at least twelve feet tall. 

“Jim, pick one that will fit in our living room.”

“It’ll fit. Might have to trim it a bit but…” Jim made a quick circuit around the tree and stood, with his hands on his hips, smiling at it. “This is it. The Kirk-McCoy family tree.”

“I still don’t know what is wrong with the other tree.”

“The other tree is artificial, fake. This is real. A good old fashioned tree.”

“So, we’re murdering a live tree to celebrate Christmas? What message is this sending to me and JoJo?” David said. Bones and JoJo laughed. Jim narrowed his eyes at them.

“That family is important.”

“What about this tree’s family?” JoJo said.

“Trees don’t have families. Help me cut this down.” Bones and JoJo held the tree while Jim and David crawled on their stomachs through the snow to the base of the tree. 

“Why can’t we go to Risa, like we did last year?”JoJo stamped her feet to keep warm and Bones took off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck before grabbing the tree again. 

“Or Disney Planet?” David demanded at his feet.

“Because, we are going to have a good old-fashioned family Christmas, make this one to remember.” Jim’s voice was slightly muffled by the branches.

“Daddy—can’t you talk sense into him?”

Bones looked skyward and remembered all his talk about putting on a united front for the children. Though both of them were good parents, Jim pretty much filled the role of fun parent where Bones got to be the more responsible one. Though it took a while, over the years, they’d gotten good at balancing their roles. For whatever reason, Jim wanted this and Bones loved Jim. “This is important to your father so therefore it’s important to all of us. We’ll have fun. You’ll see.”

“The important thing is that we’re all together.” Jim said, slightly out of breath from wrestling with the holo-saw as he and David climbed from beneath the tree. 

The four of them wrangled the tree back to the car and secured it on top. Bones shook his head. That monster of a tree wouldn’t even fit in their front yard. He really needed to clarify what Jim wanted with all this old-fashioned Christmas talk, even though he knew he’d cave and give Jim everything he wanted, just as he always did. 

They trooped back into the tiny farmhouse. Inside it was shabby and, even the brightly crackling fire didn’t completely dispel the mustiness. Still, Bones glanced around with interest. His husband grew up here, miles from the nearest town. He tried to imagine what it must have been like for Jim here as a child. His bright sunshine boy. He sipped stale coffee liberally laced with bourbon as the kids ignored their hot chocolate, dusty clumps from the packet on top. 

“How long is your leave, Mom?”

“Through your birthday. They expect us at the ceremonies as usual. Then I get to go back up.” Jim pressed his lips together and nodded, taking a generous slug of his coffee and coughing, his eyes watering. Winona had a free hand with the bourbon bottle.“When are you going back up?”

“I’m head of Starfleet Academy, Mom. That keeps me busy.”

“I heard you were up for that pretty new starship. The new Enterprise.”

Bones looked to Jim who stared into his coffee. This was the first he’d heard of any new starship. David and JoJo looked at Jim too and then back at Bones. “She’s just being built, Mom.”

“She’ll be ready in a few years. You going to take her up?” Jim shrugged. Looked like they needed to talk. 

They left Winona’s near dusk, with her promise to think about joining them for the holiday. Though he liked his mother-in-law personally, and even respected her achievements from a professional standpoint, she’d been a terrible mother to Jim. Bones could rarely get beyond that. Despite everything, Jim was a wonderful man but little thanks to Winona who, in her grief, abdicated her parental responsibilities to her in-laws. Still, she was his husband’s mother and his children’s grandmother. Bones could put his own feelings aside long enough to celebrate Christmas.

No matter how much he may not want to.

They got the tree home and all four of them dragged it off the car. Bones sent the kids inside to change into dry clothes and offered to help Jim secure the tree.

“Do we have a tree stand?”

“Not for a live tree.” Bones rolled his eyes. “What possessed you with the live tree and all?”

“It makes the house smell awesome and…” Jim shrugged. “It reminds me of when my Grammie Kirk was alive.”

Bones sighed. He’d end up spending the night out here in soaking jeans just so Jim could have the tree he’d dreamed off. They rigged up a tree stand out of a bucket and got it inside to the great room. The top of the tree bent against the ceiling.

“Will there be enough room for the star?” JoJo asked from behind him.

“Sure, honey. I have a little more trimming to do but that won’t be a problem.” Jim assured her. Bones crossed his arms, watching as Jim tried to cut the ropes binding the tree. He tossed him a laser scalpel and moved the kids well back. 

“Here it is. The Kirk-McCoy family Christmas tree.” Jim cut the ropes and stumbled back as the full girth of the tree burst out—halfway across the room.

“Guess we’ll have to move the furniture back.” David said.

“Into the yard.” JoJo nodded and Bones hid a smile behind his hand.

“There’s a lot of sap in here.” Jim struggled to keep the massive tree upright. 

“It looks great. A little full.” Bones commented mildly, biting his lip.

“A lot of sap.” Jim answered.


	3. Chapter 3

On Sunday morning, the blue-eyed menace woke them all before seven by blasting Christmas carols through the sound system. Bones stumbled, bleary-eyed into the upper hall as the kids emerged from their rooms, like groggy little owls, to find Jim smiling up at them from the foyer.

“Rise and shine, sleepyheads. We have a tree to decorate!” Jim charged into the kitchen, calling behind him, “I’ll make breakfast.”

“Dad, can’t you do something? Maybe hypo him into unconsciousness until the new year?” David asked. 

“Don’t tempt me. Get dressed, kids, before he starts singing.”

As if on cue, Jim started warbling—off-key—about Santa Claus coming to town. Bones staggered down the stairs and into the kitchen. Jim stood, shaking his hips at the stove, singing along with Elvis. He stepped up behind him, sliding his hands around his husband’s waist, and dropping kisses along the back of his neck. 

“Come on back to bed, darlin.’ I can make it worth your while.” Bones pressed kisses to his shoulders, sliding his palms over Jim’s flat stomach and beneath the waistband of his pajama pants, just stroking the satin skin there with his fingertips, teasing him.

“Tempting, Bones. But, we’ve got a lot of work to do with the decorating and all. Only two weeks until Christmas.” Jim turned and dropped a kiss on Bones’ mouth, which turned into several sleepy kisses that likely would have escalated had the smoke alarm not blared. “Damn. I burnt the bacon!” 

“Again?” Bones sighed and grabbed the spatula from his hand. “When I married you, I thought you could cook.”

“I can cook but…”

“Only a few things.” Bones finished for him, scraping the blackened bacon out of the pan and turning the heat down as Jim handled the smoke alarm.

“Anyway, you didn’t marry me for my cooking.” Jim palmed Bones’ ass through his thin pajama pants. “Maybe tonight, under the tree…you remember that time…” Jim bit Bones’ earlobe as they both flushed, remembering the time that they’d been making love under the tree, the Christmas lights painting their naked skin with a stained glass rainbow of color. Until nearly two year old David woke up, dashing downstairs waving his beloved train book over his head. A mortified Jim rolled behind the sofa to hide as Bones simply dragged the throw blanket from the couch into his lap to cover up and read the story to their son. They’d never tried under the tree again and likely wouldn’t until their kids were out of the house, though they still giggled over the memory every year.

“Get a room.” David rolled his eyes without heat as Jim and Bones broke apart from their embrace. David grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee, handing it off to his sister, before filling another one for himself. 

“Where’s mine?” Bones demanded. David raised an eyebrow but poured another cup for him. 

“Aren’t you going to lecture me about drinking coffee, stunting my growth, all that?” 

“Nah, kiddo, figure we’re all going to need it today with Hurricane Jim here on the loose.” After rescuing the rest of the bacon and making eggs, Bones plated the food and sat down at the table. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

“Well, we can use what Christmas decorations we have but…we’re probably going to need more ornaments.” Jim started, reading from a PADD. If Jim was making lists and battle plans, things were getting out of hand. Bones raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the enormous tree, at least four times the size of their artificial one. They were going to have to buy out stores in the tri-county area. “I was thinking of a light display. Pavel and Scotty…”

“Oh no. Those two lunatics are not engineerin’ a light display in my front yard. God only knows what obscene message that Scotsman will spell out while Pavel insists it’s an old Russian Christmas tradition. No. No. No.” Bones waved his fork at Jim who leaned over and stole a bite. He grinned at his husband. Bones always gave in way too easily to that smile.

“Come on, Bones. I want us to have the most festive display on the block.”

“We have a light display every year.”

“A puny one.”

“A small, tasteful…”

“Come on, Daddy! It’ll be fun.” JoJo smiled. A budding engineer herself, she would love nothing more than to create a light display, no doubt with timed music and fireworks that would scare all the dogs in the neighborhood. “Uncle Pavel and Uncle Scotty will love it.”

“Fine. David and I will go shopping while you all start work on that. Okay with you, Davey?” His son shrugged and exchanged a resigned glance with Bones. 

* * *

Later that afternoon, when David and Bones were still not back yet, JoJo and Jim started pulling the decorations out of storage. JoJo shifted an old box marked “Leo. Peachtree High.” When she dropped it, a series of holo-yearbooks skidded across the floor. Jim came over to help her scoop the stuff up, when she snatched the top book from his hand.

“Is that Daddy?” She pointed to a dark haired boy, his long hair obscuring his face, playing guitar.

“I don’t think your dad plays guitar…” Jim trailed off as the holo-gram shifted and the boy lifted his face to the camera. Even in a thirty plus year old holograph, Leonard McCoy’s pouty mouth and gorgeous eyes were unmistakable in his youthful face. Jim and his daughter exchange shocked glances, blinking at each other. 

“I’ve known your dad twenty-five years and he never mentioned this.”

“I can’t believe Daddy was in a band.” 

“The Real McCoys.” Jim marveled, reading the sign behind the band. He wondered how old Bones had been in these pictures because…his husband was smoking hot. He flipped over the yearbook and read 2245. Bones had just been 18 then. 

“Oh look, there’s sound.” JoJo pressed the sound button and Bones’ honey singing voice poured out, not as deep or as raspy as it was now. Jim smiled at JoJo, remembering how Bones used to sing to her and David when he rocked their babies. “Papa, let’s get Daddy a guitar for Christmas.”

Jim smiled at her. “Great idea, baby girl.”

And if he could coax Bones into a private concert, so much the better. 

* * *

By the time Bones and David returned, with the hover-van full of ornaments and festive decor, Jim and JoJo had gotten wreathes up and the stockings out. They were debating the merits colored or white lights around the windows when the Bones came in, laden with packages. He handed each of them a sub sandwich and tossed two boxes of lights to David.

“Let’s get this damn tree decorated. David and I will string the lights while you eat.”

“That’s my Bones. So festive.” Jim said, licking marinara from his meatball sub off his lower lip. 

“This is your bright idea, Captain Christmas so…” Bones kissed him on the cheek on the way past, patting his shoulder. 

Jim watched his son and husband string the lights. David stood as tall as Bones now, making it much easier to toss the strings of colored lights back and forth. They came to a knotted strand and both bent their heads over it, gleaming blonde for David and dark as a starless sky for Bones. That must have been what he and Bones looked like at the Academy. His eyes filled before he could stop it, watching his son and his Bones together. He glanced at his gorgeous daughter, fiddling with her phone, and remembered holding her as a baby, in this very room, with the tree glowing from the corner. 

Because he’d missed so much of David’s babyhood, when JoJo arrived, Jim would bounce out of bed to care for her, feeding her and rocking her and singing to her at all hours. He wanted to hold her all the time. Bones grumbled about how he spoiled her but Jim knew he did the same with David and watched him do the same with JoJo.

For her first Christmas, JoJo was just a little less than three months old and, with her very healthy lungs and low appreciation for sleep, she’d keep her older brother up all night. So, Jim used to take her downstairs and sit by the tree. She would stare in happy fascination at the glowing tree on in the corner, while he would stare at her, trying to memorize every detail of his baby daughter’s face. 

On Christmas night that year, he held her on the sofa and realized that her baby blue eyes were developing a hazel ring. _Bones’ eyes._ He’d once overheard his Grammie Kirk say to his mother what a blessing and a gift it was to see your spouse reflected in your child. And Winona answered “Or a curse.”

But when Jim saw his baby girl’s eyes turning, he knew that Grammie Kirk had the right of it. He loved Bones’ beautiful chameleon eyes, changing color as they did from green to hazel to chocolate and back again. She’d also gotten her daddy’s dark hair, just now starting to wisp into curls around her face. He was delighted to see his handsome husband reflected in his tiny daughter’s face. As she scrunched up her face to protest her lack of bottle, he recognized her daddy’s trademark scowl in miniature. With a jolt, he came back to the present, glancing around at his beautiful family. How did he—the former only genius-level repeat offender in the midwest—end up here?

“You ok, Papa?” Jo asked him and he dredged up a smile for his girl. 

“Let’s go ornament that tree.” Jim headed into the room, swiping at the moisture under his eyes. In just a little under two hours, they’d bedecked the tree, every branch draped with gleaming multi-color balls and family heirlooms, the lights burning bright and warm. The kids headed up to bed while he and Bones tidied the living room. 

“Your mama commed…” Bones said, hesitantly.

“I knew she wouldn’t come, even as I extended the invite. It’s cool, Bones.” Jim shrugged, struggling to put the ornament boxes back together.

“Molly called today. She and Jenny—and all their kids—have decided to accept your invitation. I got them rooms at the Marriott, overlooking the bridge.”

“That’s great. I love your sisters.” 

Jim, don’t you think you’re getting a little nuts? It’s not too late to change our plans. We could just go to Hawaii or maybe even Risa. Paris, London, African Safari, Disney Planet…”

“Nope. This is David’s last Christmas with us. We have to make it memorable.”

“Christmas in Hawaii is very memorable. Don’t you remember dripping pina coladas all over each other on the beach?” 

“Don’t try to distract me, Bones.” Jim winked at him. “At least until the living room is clean.”

“I just think you’re forgetting how difficult it’ll be having everyone in the same house at the holidays.”

“This is our family, not strangers off the street.”

“All they do is argue.”

“Christmas is about resolving differences…and rising above the petty problems of family life. All my life, I’ve wanted to have a big family Christmas.”

“Okay, Jim, if it means that much to you.” Bones grinned at him. “I just don’t think you’re appreciating the epic battles that are going to break out around the dinner table.”

“Can’t be worse than the epic battles we’ve been through on the Enterprise, right, Bones?” Jim smiled at him.

“And what’s this about you taking the chair on a new Enterprise?”

“Oh, I knew you wouldn’t wait long on that one.” Jim rocked back on his heels, stacks of empty ornament boxes surrounding him. He looked up at Bones. “I’ve been dirt side 16 years.”

“You’ve gone out since then. We both have.”

“Yeah, short hops but…” Jim shrugged.

“Do you want a chair?”

“If I want to make Admiral, I do.”

“Is this about me outranking you again?”

“No, I don’t care about that. I’m proud of you, Bones, you know that.” Jim sat on the floor, cross-legged, organizing the boxes. “This new ship, it’ll be ready in four years. Jo will be at college…”

“And you want to go out.” Bones sat next to him, clasping his hand.

“Yes. But…” Here he rolled to his knees, holding both of Bones’ hands in his, looking into his eyes. “Only if you come with me.”

“Come with you?” Bones’ eyes widened. “But the kids…my research…”

Jim leaned over and kissed him deeply. “You’re my husband. I’m not going anywhere without you. Besides, I need a CMO.”

“Where have I heard that line before?”

“Come to bed, Bones.” Jim stood and, after they flipped off the tree lights, they climbed the stairs, holding hands.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kirk-McCoy family work on their holiday cards, create an outdoor light display extravaganza, and welcome a surprise guest...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's update includes the angst part of the otherwise fluffy Christmas fic. If it helps, it's not angst between our boys at least...

On the Saturday before Christmas, Jim insisted they all don matching Christmas sweaters, emblazoned with giant reindeer, for their holo-card. When Bones pointed out that they’d never done holo-cards before, he’d gotten his sweater thrown at him. With good grace, Bones wrestled the stupid thing on, knowing, from long experience, it was easier to give in to Jim in this mood. David also pulled his sweater on and flopped on the sofa to read. Bones stood leaning against the kitchen counter, sweating, listening to Jim negotiate with their daughter about wearing the sweater. 

“I’m not wearing that.”

“Jo, just for the picture.” Jim pleaded. Bones tried really hard not to enjoy the fact that the great tactician was losing to his teenage daughter.

“If you think I’m wearing it for a picture that will be seen by other people, you’re nuts. It’s hideous.”

“It’s festive.”

“It’s not happening.” Jo folded her arms over her chest, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and raised her eyebrow at Jim. Bones recognized his own scowl and fought not to laugh.

“Do not give me that eyebrow. Bones, she’s giving me the eyebrow.”

“Oh no. Don’t drag me into this.” Bones put his hands up.

“Joanna, if you wear the sweater…” Jim resorted to the old parental trick of bribery. “I’ll let you drive the car.”

“No, you won’t.” Bones said. “She’s thirteen.”

“I’ll…take you shopping.”

“I hate shopping.”

“What do you want then?” Jim cocked his head to the side and Bones thought of watching him in all those diplomatic negotiations when they’d been on the Enterprise. Who ever thought he’d be bested by a slip of a girl?

“I get to go to the Academy sleep-away camp this summer.” Jim glanced at Bones who gave him the tiniest of shrugs. She was thirteen after all. And one of her fathers was head of the Academy. It was time.

“Great!” Jim smiled at her. His daughter pulled the sweater over her head and hopped off the chair to head for the tree. “Both our babies…”

“Let’s go. Don’t have all day.” Bones clapped a hand on his husband’s shoulder before Jim could sink into empty nest despair again. “By the way, she played you.” 

“I’m aware of that but she’s dressed…Where’s David? Great, go stand by the tree…” 

The doorbell rang just as Jim was taking approximately the millionth shot. At this point, their cards wouldn’t be done before Independence Day. Relieved with the distraction, Bones headed for the front door. He opened it to find a petite woman, dressed in a perfectly tailored pink skirt suit, trimmed with black, holding a silver cane. Her mouth pressed in a disapproving line as she reached for the doorbell again. Her hazel eyes met his and all the air left Bones’ lungs in a whoosh.

“Mama?” 

“Leonard. Aren’t you going to invite me in? And why are you wearing that ridiculous sweater?”

Jim appeared at his elbow, carefully not meeting Bones’ furious glare. “Miz Loretta. You’re early.”

“Early?” Bones hissed as Jim helped his mother over the threshold. David and Jo appeared and greeted his mother with fond hugs and smiles. David escorted her into the living room, trailed by JoJo. When Jim made to follow them, Bones grabbed the back of his sweater, yanking him back against him. He growled near his beloved’s ear, “You invited my mother here?”

“It’s Christmas.”

“Jim…I swear to God, you are handling this. My mother, my sisters…I’m going to the holo-port and get on the next shuttle: destination anywhere other than here.”

Jim turned in his arms, patting his biceps, lowering his lashes over his eyes. “Bones…”

“If you say the words good old fashioned family christmas I am not responsible for my actions.” Bones hissed. “And do not try batting those baby blues at me. I’m immune.”

“Are you?” Jim smirked at him. He leaned close and nipped at Bones’ earlobe. “That’s not what you said last night in bed…” Bones shook his head at him, fighting a smile. Jim had had him wrapped around his little finger for a quarter century. Still, it wouldn’t do to let him know that. 

“James Tiberius, who else did you invite?” Bones crossed his arms over his chest, dislodging Jim’s grip on him and glared at him sternly.

“No one to stay.”

“My mother’s not staying with us. No way. I’ll go stay at a hotel and take the kids. You can entertain the dragon.”

“No, no, I got her a hotel room with your sisters. And their kids. And then you know, just the usual suspects for dinner on Christmas Eve.”

“The usual suspects? Dinner?”

“Spock, Uhura, Pavel, Hikiru, Scotty…”

“And their kids?” Bones breathed in horror as the guest list topped thirty people. “We’re going to have to set up tables on the lawn. Christmas Eve is two days away. Who’s cooking this dinner?”

“Um…I’ll help you with it.” Jim rubbed the back of his neck.

“You’ll HELP?” 

“Leonard! James! What’s keeping you?” After his mother’s shout, Jo appeared at the door, her eyes wide and pleading. He couldn’t abandon his kids to his mother. Drawing a deep breath, Bones stepped around his husband and into the dragons’ lair.

“JoJo, let’s go string some lights.” Jim said cheerfully. “I’ll be outside for the season.”

“James…” Bones growled but Jim just waved as Jo darted out the door, followed by her brother, abandoning Bones to his fate: coping with Loretta McCoy.

“How was your flight, Mama?”

“You know I hate shuttle travel.” She rested her head on the sofa back, shutting her eyes, “Where’s my bourbon and branch?”

“It’s not even noon.”

“It’s three in Atlanta.” 

“Good point.” Bones shrugged before making her drink and himself a double. Something told him he would need it.

* * * 

“Okay, kids, we’re going to have the best-looking house in town.” Jim waved to the stacks of lights he’d bought. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”

“That’s a lot of lights.” David said, peering into their garage.

“We’re going to do it right and do it big.” Jim said. 

“Do you think you might be overdoing, just a bit?” JoJo asked him. 

“When was the last time I overdid anything?” Jim pulled out a coiled ball of lights and handed them to his daughter. “Little knot here. Can you untangle that? We’ve got to check every bulb.” 

“Christmas is in three days. We’re not going to have this done before Easter.” David said.

“I’ll get the other box.” Jim said and ignored the glances his kids exchanged. “David, go get the reindeer out of the storage shed. And don’t forget the Santa.” 

* * *

Several hours later, Jim and David were still climbing on the roof wrapping lights around every available surface. JoJo snuck in to help Bones bake David’s birthday cake. Loretta sat at the kitchen counter, enjoying her third bourbon and branch. 

“You look just like your daddy, Joanna. And your aunt Molly.” Loretta said and Jo smiled at her. Once the grandchildren arrived, Loretta and Bones came to an uneasy truce. He couldn’t deny that she’d been a pretty good grandmother to them and she loved Jim, despite still being unable and unwilling to forgive Bones for his part in his father’s death. “You act more like James though.”

“David’s more like me.” Bones nodded as he held the bowl for Jo to scrape the caramel cake batter out into the prepared pan. 

“It’s interesting how things like that work, isn’t it? I mean, he favors Jim, of course, the way JoJo favors you. But, even without the biological tie…”

Bones slammed the mixing bowl on the counter and glared at her. “David is my son just as much as Jo is Jim’s daughter.”

“Yes, of course, but not biologically.” Even though Bones knew that was true—David was Jim’s biological child just as Jo was his—he bit his lip, breathing hard. His mother always brought out the worst in him. _Just a few days, just a few days…_

“I think what Grandma is trying to say is that David is like you, Daddy. David and I understand about the biological thing. We know how we got here. Don’t I remind you of Papa sometimes?” Jo patted his arm, wrapping her fingers around his clenched fist. Bones tried to smile at her. His mother rolled her eyes, muttering about him being too sensitive before heading into the den, carefully balancing her drink with her cane.

“Yes, all the time. You’re a daredevil just like him. I’ll never forget that time you flung yourself off the monkey bars at school. Took ten years off my life.”

“I was trying to practice my space jumping. That’s what Grandma meant. David is quiet and studious like you. He looks like Papa but he acts like you.” Bones smiled. Jo would ace her diplomacy classes when she got to the Academy, just like her Papa had. “Why don’t you and Grandma get along?”

“For reasons that happened long before you were born.” After sliding the cake into the oven and setting the timer, Bones sipped his bourbon. He and Jo worked on the dishes together, falling into a comfortable routine.

“So, it’s not because you married a guy and adopted his kid?”

“My mama might be backwards but she’s not that backwards. It has to do with my father’s death and the end of my first marriage.”

“First marriage?” JoJo stared at him, holding a dripping bowl, her hazel eyes wide in her shocked face. She’d just turned 13 in October and was only just beginning to see her parents as people, separate and apart from their identities as fathers.

“Yes. I was married before. Her name was Pamela.” 

“Does Papa know?”

“Yes, he knows.” Bones laughed. “I don’t keep secrets from your Papa. He met her once, when David was little, just when we’d finally gotten our act together. When we lived in Atlanta. Before we got married and moved here and had you.”

“And Grandma liked Pamela better than Papa?”

“No, not at all. Your grandmother saw right through Pamela from the get-go. She never liked her. And she’s always loved Jim. Your grandmother disagreed with the help that I gave your grandfather.”

“Your father means that I disagreed with him killing your grandfather. Isn’t that what you mean to say, Leonard?” His mother called from the living room, just as Jim and David came in from outside, laughing together. At Loretta’s words, Jim and David stopped in the doorway, stunned. Joanna’s eyes widened. She turned to Jim open-mouthed in shock. 

“Miz Loretta, let me get your things.” Jim said, calm and implacable.

“I’d like to say my piece, James, if it’s all the same to you.” His mother stood and walked toward the kitchen, where Bones stood frozen, soap suds dripping off his hands, both his kids staring between him and his mother.

“Mrs. McCoy, I think it’s best if…” Jim began, his hands out toward her. 

“No, Jim. It’s okay. She can say whatever she’s got to say to me in front of you and our kids.”

“Bones…”

“It took me a long time to get through my grief and my anger, Leonard. You were the loving one and I was just trying to hold on too tight. You did the right thing, son.” Jim dropped his hands to his sides and turned to Bones, who stood, stunned. “Now, James, I find I’d like to retire. Could you see me to my hotel?”

Jim looked at Bones who nodded. He sat down heavily in a chair at the table. David pulled his own birthday cake out of the oven when the timer went off and both kids disappeared into the den. Jim returned about twenty minutes later and dropped to his knees next to Bones’ chair. Without a word, Bones laid his head on his husband’s shoulder and gave in to the comfort of his embrace, just letting Jim hold him. “We need to talk to the kids, Jim.”

“I can do it myself. Bones…I’m so sorry…” Bones stood and walked into the living room. His kids sat on the sofa, watching a movie, like their grandmother hadn’t just set off an emotional bomb in the kitchen two days before the holidays. 

“Kids, you probably have questions.” Bones said as Jim flipped the TV off. He sat on the loveseat across from the kids and drew a deep breath. He thought of his own daddy and how he’d have handled this moment. Straight out with it. “My father had cancer, terminal cancer. He…asked me to help him end it and…I did. It caused the end of my first marriage. And…” here Bones looked up at Jim and glanced at David and Joanna, watching him solemnly in the soft, colorful lights from the tree. 

“At the time, I thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. But, then, if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met your Papa. I wouldn’t have you two so…” Bones shrugged. Jim squeezed his shoulder. The kids looked at him and then piled into a family hug, Bones at the center, the way they hadn’t since the kids had been little. And Bones knew, that wherever David McCoy was, he’d be thrilled to see how happy his only son ended up, surrounded by a loving family.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Scotty and Pavel arrived just as they were finishing breakfast. Jim and JoJo bounced outside with them, leaving Bones with the dishes. To his surprise, David stayed to help, drying as Bones washed.

“Don’t you want to go string more lights?”

“Had enough of that yesterday.” David rolled his eyes. “Papa gets a little…”

“Crazy, insane, nuts, overboard…”

“Yeah, all of the above.” 

“You ok with spending your birthday…”

“It’s fine, Dad.” 

“We’ll do something special for your half-birthday in June.” David smiled at him. They’d long ago started the tradition of celebrating both Jim and David’s half-birthdays in style. He’d already started researching swimming with dolphins for their summer vacation. 

“Maybe we could go check out UMiss.” Bones blinked at the sudden change of topic. “You know, for medical school in the future and all.”

“Son, we can do that anytime. But you don’t have to go there…”

“It’s the best, right?”

“It’s a good school. One of many.”

“But they have a good surgery program, right?”

“Is that what you want to do, Davey?”

“I think so. Only 17 so…” Bones smiled at him and slung an arm around his neck, bursting with pride.

* * *

Jim, Pavel, Scotty, and Jo worked all day on the lights. Bones and David spent the day making airport runs, wrapping presents, putting out the final decorations, and making stacks of sandwiches to feed to the hungry light workers. His sisters arrived at mid-day with their brood of little ones, having left their mother to “rest” at the hotel.

“So you heard about yesterday then?” Bones asked Molly. She squeezed his bicep and nodded, her mouth tight. Nothing more needed to be said. He’d expected to feel emotionally hungover after yesterday but he just felt lighter and years younger, as though the old emotional wound had finally been lanced. Maybe after the holidays, he’d go visit his mama and try to re-build more of their relationship. He and his mother were a long way from healing their painful relationship but they were a lot closer than yesterday. 

“Two hundred and fifty strands, for a grand total of over twenty-five thousand lights…” Jim started after calling them all outside for the official flipping the switch ceremony. 

“I’d hate to see your electric bill, lad.” Scotty laughed at Bones’ elbow. Bones just shook his head, looking at the strands of lights on every available surface. They’d made a star for the roof, with strands of green arranged in a triangle to make a tree, the railings were wrapped with lights, every window outlined with a wreath in the center. Icicle lights dripped from from the gutters. 

A trio of merry snowman stood in one corner of the yard, facing off against a flock of deer across from them. Light up candy canes lined the flagstone path to the house and two life-sized nutcrackers guarded the front door. More strands of lights festooned the bushes and foliage in front of the house. Each slat of the white picket fence bore a strand of different colored lights, creating a rainbow effect. Once lit, they’d be visible from space.  
“I hope no one drives by and sees us standing in the yard, staring at a darkened house.” JoJo said. 

“If they know your dad, they won’t think anything of it.” Bones answered. “Jim, darlin, flip the switch. My chili’s burning.” 

“I dedicate this house to the Kirk-McCoy family Christmas.” Jim smiled at them and, with a flourish, flipped the switch. The house stayed resolutely dark. Jim slammed his hand on the switch again. Still nothing. Bones exchanged glances with the kids, biting his lip.

“It’s probably a bad bulb, Keptin.”

“If one goes out, the whole thing won’t work.” Scotty agreed. “We’ll have to personally check each one.”

“We did that, right, JoJo?” Jim asked, still toggling the button.

“Yeah.” Jo said weakly and Bones raised an eyebrow at her. “I think it looks good, even if it’s not lit, Papa.” 

“Let’s go up there…”

“I’m sure it’s beautiful, Jim. Come on in and have some chili, okay?” Bones pressed a kiss to his cheek, pulling the lever out of his hands and handing it off to Pavel. “I made those little cornbread muffins you like.”

Bones herded everyone into the house and served the meal. Halfway through his own bowl, he saw Jim slip outside. He gave him a few minutes head start and then, serving up another bowl of chili, and topping it the way Jim liked, he stuck a beer in his pocket and headed outside. He found Jim ensuring that all the lights were plugged in, halfway up a ladder on the side of the house.

“Darlin’? Are you out here for a reason or are you just avoiding the family and leaving your spouse to handle the whole holiday mess you created?”

“I still have a few more strands to check. I just can’t figure out what’s wrong.” 

“Is it plugged in?”

“Funny, Bones.” 

“I’m a doctor, not an engineer.” Jim smiled at him wryly. “Come eat, love.”

Jim crawled back down the ladder, turning to lean against it. Bones handed him the bowl of chili and offered him the beer. He cocked his head to the side, watching Jim spoon up the chili. Even after all these years together, Jim was still a puzzle to him sometimes. “It’s good, thanks.”

“Jim, what possessed you this year?” 

“When I first came back, from that black hole, and you presented me with David…” Bones looked at him curiously. They rarely spoke of when Jim had been gone. “And I gave up my ship for you and him. I’ve never once regretted it but I used to think, well, once the kids are grown, we’ll go sailing again…”

“Jim, if the ship is that important to you, we’ll go when the next Enterprise is ready.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying, though I might hold you to that promise, Bones.” Jim raked his hand through his hair. Bones waited, sensing Jim needed to get it out. “I thought going sailing again would make me happy but the thing is…I’ve been happy all along and…now it’s ending and…”

“When you have a mid-life crises, you do it big, huh? I guess I should be grateful you didn’t come home with a hover-Ferrari and a gorgeous young blonde.”

“Nah, got a thing for dark hair.” Jim smiled at him and leaned over to give him a quick kiss. “Tall, dark, and grumpy gets me every time.”

Bones flushed. Jim handed him the empty bowl and the beer bottle before turning back to the ladder. “Don’t stay out too long, darlin.” 

* * * 

That night, Jim sat propped up in bed, his reading glasses on as he peered at a three dimensional schematic of their house and the lighting display. Bones climbed onto the bed, tugging the PADD out of his husband’s hand and crawling into his lap.

“Hi. Remember me? I’m your neglected, put-upon saint of a spouse.” Jim smiled at him and stroked his hands down Bones’ broad back, pulling him close, eyeing the holographic display over Bones’ shoulder. _If he could just figure out where they’d gone wrong…_ He kissed along his collarbone, snuggling Bones close, inhaling the scent of lime, minty toothpaste, and Bones. _Home. Which should be lit up right about now…_

“So, Bones, tell me about the Real McCoys.” Jim said, as Bones pulled his t-shirt off. He pushed Bones down on his stomach and straddled him, rubbing his back distractedly, still thinking about the lights. _It was obvious. It had to be…_

“The what now?” Bones said, sounding pleased that his husband had finally gotten with the program, as Jim stroked his back, especially his shoulders, where Bones carried all his tension, his fingers tracing the constellations of freckles on his beloved’s shoulder blades.

“Your band.”

“I will strangle Molly. Or Jenny. Whichever one told you.” Bones covered his face with the pillow. Jim wrestled it away, delighted to see Bones blush. He laughed and dropped kisses on his burning cheeks. 

“Don’t blame your poor sisters. Jo and I found your yearbook. My God, Bones, if I’d known you then, I would jumped you for sure.”

“You’d have been about 12 then so…that’s just creepy.” Bones rolled over onto his back, so Jim sat on top of him. They clasped hands, smiling at each other.

“So literal. My point is that you were adorable and hot at the same time. With that long silky hair, and the brooding looks.” Jim shivered.

“Well, you’d be the only one who thought that, darlin.’”

“I didn’t know you played. How did I not know this about you?” Jim kissed his knuckles, little butterfly kisses along each hand. Maybe the outlet was on the fritz? 

“I haven’t played since high school.” Bones shrugged. 

“So did you have groupies?”

“We wished we had groupies. We could only play like four songs.” Bones laughed. “It was fun though. A nice memory.”

“What happened to your bandmates?”

“I think one’s an investment banker and the other is a lawyer. Haven’t talked to them in years, after, you know, everything with Pamela.”

Jim scowled at the mention of Bones’ ex-wife. “Will you play for me?”

“God no.” Bones laughed and sat up for a kiss, ready and willing for Jim…

“Oh! I’ve got it.” Jim leapt up and dashed from the room, leaving a confused Bones on the bed. He ran downstairs to the front hallway and flipped the light switch next to the front door. And suddenly, the front yard flooded with light. A loud thump and “Damnit, Jim!” from upstairs told him that Bones, at least, had seen the light display. “David! Joanna! Come quick! Look at the lights.” 

He dashed out into the front lawn, turning back to see it. His house wrapped in light and warmth for the season. _He’d done it._ He stood beaming, as Bones and the kids piled out, dressed in their pajamas. 

“Papa, it's beautiful!” Jo said, smiling at the house. David and Bones blinked at it, their eyes wide, as they took in the display. 

“It’s…um…lovely, Jim.” Bones finally said.

“You deserve a house like this to spend Christmas in.” Jim said, flinging an arm around Bones’ broad shoulders.

“Jeez, Dad, what’d you ever do to deserve this?” David whispered and Bones chuckled. 

“Asked myself that for twenty-five years, Davey.”

“It’s nice, Papa. Bright.” David managed, when Bones nudged him.

“You haven’t seen the best part! Let’s show him, Jo.” Jim bounced on the balls of his feet. Both David and Bones looked wary. Joanna dashed up the front steps and hit a hidden button. The lights on the roof spelled out “Happy Birthday, David!” David’s jaw dropped and he buried his face into his hands.

“Please take that down.” David begged.

“Why? Don’t want Skylar to see it?” Jo teased. Jim and Bones both turned to David who flushed crimson.

“Skylar, huh?” Jim said. “Now that sounds like an interesting story.”

“Leave him be, Jim. Thanks for making the house look brighter than the New Vegas strip.” Bones kissed his cheek, laughing at the incredulous horror on his son’s face. 

“But, Papa, the little lights are not twinkling.” Jo complained. 

“Oh my God…” David groaned. Jim headed over to check the lights with Joanna just as the entire street went dark. 

“Did you just cause a power outage? Damnit, Jim!”


	6. Chapter 6

“How am I going to cook a roast for thirty people with no power?” Bones greeted Jim on Christmas Eve morning. 

“And the hot water heater is out too. How am I supposed to wash my hair?” Jo yelled from the upstairs hallway.

“I just called the power company and they’ll have it back on by noon.” Jim commented. “David and I will go get the generator.”

“You can’t go outside. The neighbors will kill you.” Bones grinned at him. “I’ll go. You make cereal for everyone and try not to set the kitchen on fire.”

David and Bones headed for the storage shed and wrestled the generator out. They wheeled it into the yard and hooked it up. “Did you want to invite your friend, Skylar, for dinner?”

“No, Dad! Like she knows I exist.”

“Everyone feels like that at 16.” Bones hid a grin. “Seventeen today, I guess. Happy Birthday, son.”

“How did you ask Papa out?”

“Why do you assume it was me that asked him?” Bones stalled. 

“He would’ve just kissed you.” David answered and Bones flushed. “Oh, never mind then.”

“Well, it’s not a bad plan. It was New Year’s Eve after all.” Bones laughed as they walked back in. Jim sat at the table, going over his notes and checklists, Joanna sat, her hair wrapped in a towel, sipping coffee and ignoring her cereal.

“Dad, can you tell the David story now, when it’s just us?” David asked as they settled at the table for breakfast. Bones sipped his gritty, lukewarm coffee. Instead of the _Night Before Christmas_ , which had been traditional in his family, Bones told the story of David’s birth on Christmas Eve every year. Jim, Jo, and David all loved hearing it, nearly as much as Bones dreaded telling it. He sucked in a deep breath and nodded, happy to get it out of the way when it was just the four of them, his little family.

“So, during our five year mission on the Enterprise, we were exploring an anomaly at the edge of known space. And Jim, leading an away mission, fell into a black hole.” Bones closed his eyes for an instant, back on the bridge of the Enterprise, when Jim’s shuttle tumbled out of space, just winked out of existence, remembering the terror, the shock, the fear, the worry leading to the bleak reality of existing without Jim. “He was missing for twenty-one months and two days.”

“Along about six weeks after Jim disappeared, Jim’s girlfriend Carol discovered she was going to have a baby. She missed Jim terribly, nearly as much as I did.” Bones didn’t look at Jim then. They’d negotiated and agreed on glossing over this part years ago, though Bones knew Jim disagreed with it even still. 

“Because Jim couldn’t be there, Carol asked me to be her birth coach. On Christmas Eve, we were heading over to the Officer’s Club for dinner, Carol, your Aunt Ny, and Uncle Spock. In between one step and the next, Carol’s water broke. I remember she was so mad she ruined her new boots. So, instead of going to the mess hall, we went to the medbay. And just a few minutes before midnight, on Christmas Eve, David arrived.”

Bones left out how much he’d ached for Jim then. He’d known Carol wished for him too. They hadn’t spoken of him though. Simply too painful.

“So, after they placed David on Carol’s chest, I said to him, “Hello there baby. We’ve been waiting for you.” And, when he heard my voice, David turned his head to find me. I’d been around Carol a lot and David knew my voice, as well as Nyota and Spock. After Carol’d held him for a bit, I got to hold him next. And we walked over to the window to look out at the stars.”

Bones didn’t say that he’d held David and looked at the night sky, thinking of his own love, lost out among the stars. And how he’d looked down at the child, this last tiny bit of Jim that he’d ever have. And fallen desperately in love in a way that he’d only experienced two other times in his life—at Joanna’s birth and on the shuttle from Riverside, sharing his flask with Jim Kirk. 

“And as we looked out at the stars, David opened his eyes. Even though all babies have blue eyes, I knew he’d be keeping those Kirk eyes. Even then, you looked just like your papa. And that, David, is the story of how you arrived, the best Christmas gift I ever received.” Bones ruffled his son’s blonde hair and slugged down some more gritty, cold coffee, swallowing hard past the lump in his throat. 

“Tell us about when Papa came back.” JoJo begged.

“So a year later, I was at a Christmas party in Atlanta when your auntie Ny called me to tell me Jim was back. And, after a few days, I brought David to see him. And…” Bones trailed off, thinking of that time. He taken David to meet Jim in San Francisco, Jim came home to Atlanta with him, and in just over a week, they were engaged and married six weeks later. And now, somehow, it was sixteen years later.

“Then we finally realized what idiots we were.” Jim smiled. “Since we’d been in love all along.”

“Saps.” David rolled his eyes, a flush high on his cheeks and Joanna smiled at them. Bones remembered hiding in the shuttle bathroom that long-ago day, at rock bottom. And sitting down next to the blue-eyed kid with a busted face and blood on his shirt. That long ago day, he would never have believed that, a quarter century later, he’d be happily married to that punk kid raising two teenagers. He met Jim’s eyes and suddenly understood his husband’s desperate attempts to slow down time. 

Just then, the power flickered back on. Bones stood. “Let’s get to work!” 

* * *

By two, the house was crowded with family and friends. They could barely move in the kitchen, as they worked on setting up appetizers and drinks. At three, just as the appetizers ran short, one of the little ones decided that they wanted to see Uncle Jim’s light display. Before they could stop her, little Anastasia, Sulu and Chekov’s youngest, flipped the light switch and they lost power. Again.

“The roast is raw…the potatoes still hard…” Bones shook his head, burying his face in his hands. “Why didn’t I hypo him unconscious and go to Hawaii?”

“Should I order pizza?” Nyota laughed, patting Bones’ shoulder as she helped him in the kitchen, chatting pleasantly with his sisters and easing the awkwardness with his mama. So far, Bones had coped with her by ignoring her offered olive branch. Maybe in the new year, they’d be able to talk it out and finally put the past to rest. 

“I can serve eggnog, cookies, and birthday cake.” Bones said, just as thunder rumbled overhead and drenching rain poured down. Everyone outside dashed into the house as their front lawn turned into a muddy mess, bringing mud and water in with them, overcrowding the tiny, hot house. Though they all tried to make the best of it, eventually, the party started to dissipate near dusk, much earlier than usual. In the chaos, Jim made himself scarce. 

“Since we don’t have any power, can I sleep over with Noelle?” JoJo appeared at Bones’ elbow, Spock and Nyota’s daughter, and her longtime best friend, next to her.

“Tomorrow’s Christmas morning.” Bones shook his head. He’d love to go with them but, once he got their party guests out, he had a pouting blue-eyed devil to take care of. 

“I’ll drive her back in the morning, Leo.” Ny laughed as David appeared with a pretty dark haired girl at his side. 

“Dad, this is…Skylar.” Bones shook her hand, trying not to grin at his son. “We’re going…”

“Out. Don’t blame you guys. See you later.” Bones waved as they dashed out the front door. In just a few minutes, he had the house to himself. He glanced around at their trashed house and went for his good bourbon. He grabbed the few remaining cookies off the platter on the dining room before heading up to their loft bedroom. He found Jim on their tiny rooftop balcony, huddled under the down comforter from their bed, staring up at the stars. He handed him a tumbler and sat in the opposite chair. 

“Don’t sigh like that, Bones.”

“May I remind you that…”

“This was all my idea, my fault? I’m well aware of that.”

“Could you just keep it in mind the next time you go berserk?”

“What is there to say? I wanted one last perfect Christmas and instead…” Jim waved in the direction of the house before rubbing his palm over his face. “Disaster doesn’t quite cover it.”

“Catastrophe….debacle…”

“Yeah, okay, enough. I just…Our babies are growing up…”

“That’s what babies do, Jim.” Bones reached over and took his hand. “Darlin’, I’ve spent every one of the last twenty-five Christmases with you but one and they’ve each been perfect in their own way. Even the year you were…missing…David came and I got to hold him, this tiny blue-eyed boy, and it was like having a little piece of you back.”

“You hate telling that story every year.”

“I do. I hate thinking of how empty my life was without you. But I tell it because David deserves to know it. I remember thinking that he was a true Christmas miracle.”

“You’re such a good father, Bones.” Jim spun his wedding ring around his finger, scowling.

“Jim, you are just as good of a father and the kids adore you. We’ve made great memories with them through the years. Remember the year we took the kids to Disney Planet and David threw up all over JoJo two minutes before the parade? Remember the time we stayed up all night putting together David’s train set and all he played with was the box for a week? Remember when JoJo was in kindergarten and you cried all morning over the ornament she made you? Remember all our Christmases together at the Academy and on the Enterprise?”

“I just wanted to make it memorable.” Jim said, miserably. 

“Well, that you did, my love. We’ll laugh about this for years. It’s always the things that go wrong that are the most memorable.”

“Guess this will be the most memorable year ever then.” 

“Jim, you…this isn’t…you know that I love you, right? You know that no matter what—even though our kids are going to leave the nest, the way all kids do if the parents are very lucky—that I will still love you. I’ll still be here.”

“My Bones.” Jim leaned over and kissed him deeply, tasting of whiskey and peppermints. “I was such a lucky bastard the day fate sat me down next to you on that shuttle.” 

Bones shivered. “Let’s go inside. I have something to give you.”

“Where have I heard that line before?” Jim laughed and stood, twining his fingers with Bones.

“Not that.”

Jim tugged at the waistband of his jeans as they walked into their bedroom. “But that’s my favorite present.”

Bones picked up a memo cube and handed it to him. “Supposed to be for tomorrow morning but…”

Jim pressed a button and holographs of a private cabin on Hawaii flashed by, with the slogan, “Celebrate the new year in style.” 

“I figured…maybe a second honeymoon? The kids are old enough and Ny said they could stay with them for a bit…” Bones shrugged. “New Year’s is my favorite holiday anyway.” 

Jim glanced up at him and their eyes locked. Bones knew they were both remembering their first New Year’s Eve after Jim came home, the first time they’d ever made love. Jim whispered, “Mine too.” 

And suddenly, Bones couldn’t breathe. Despite being together for all these years, sometimes the desire between them would blaze to full life, shocking and intense whenever it happened. They tumbled into the bed, scarcely bothering with undressing, hot for each other as they’d been as newlyweds. After it was over, Bones whispered, “Merry Christmas, darlin.’” 

Jim pressed a finger to his lips and crawled from the bed, still handsome after all these years. He dashed down the hall to the hiding place that he didn’t think Bones knew about, bringing back a shiny black guitar with a red bow.

“What’s this?” Bones said. 

“Well, I got my gift early…I want to be serenaded by the Real McCoy.” Bones blushed but pulled the guitar into his lap while Jim smiled up at at him, lying on his stomach on the bed. 

“Okay, Captain Christmas, are you my first groupie?” Jim laughed. “What do you want to hear?”

“Fly Me to the Moon.” 

“That’s not very Christmas-y.”

“It’s our wedding song so it’s my favorite.” Jim smiled at him.

“You old romantic…” Bones smiled at his husband and began to sing…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed revisiting the "Moonverse" for the holidays. I had fun writing it!
> 
> Next up in the Moonverse will be a Valentine's Day drabble about their first anniversary. 
> 
> My other Christmas story, _A Tale of Two Elves_ also finishes posting today. 
> 
> I'm also currently posting _Dark Side of the Moon_ so you may want to check that out too.
> 
> I have three stories to post in the new year. 
> 
> _Never Have I Ever_ is an Academy Era drinking game story featuring a boy!virgin Bones. 
> 
> _Something to Talk About_ is a post Narada story featuring our boys having to fake a relationship for Starfleet PR. The first chapter will be up on New Year's Day. 
> 
> And _Forget Me Not_ is a post STID story featuring an amnesiac Bones.
> 
> Look for those to start posting in January 2015. 
> 
> Please feel free to visit me at my Tumblr at: 
> 
> http://corrie71.tumblr.com
> 
> or at my personal website at :
> 
> http://courtney-hunt.com
> 
> Thank you so much for all your kudos, comments, and feedback. I love hearing from my readers. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with family, friends, and McKirk kisses. All the best to you in 2015.


End file.
